If the universe is expanding like they say arnt we all moving at the same speed?

Question

so how can other galaxies be moving away from us

Answer 1

just a side note not all galaxies are moving away from us some are headed straight towards us such as the Adromeda (spelled something like that) will eventually crash into our galaxy but that wont be for few 100,000 years or so. They move due to gravitational forces, dark energy, ect.. there is many things in the universe that can cause them to move and science has discovered at the center of the majority of galaxies is a massive black hole

Answer 2

because the galaxies get expanded, together with the space they are in, away from us.

You have to imagine the expansion like dots on the surface of a air balloon - when you inflate it, the dots all move away from each other. The galaxies don't expand away from us - everything expands away from each other.

Answer 3

probably

Answer 4

The other galaxies are moving away from us anyway even if the universe was not expanding (gravitational force , black hole suck at them etc) - its like a pedestrian (us) and a car (them) -  the pedestrian is walking and the car is driving away

Answer 5

no because not all things have the same mass...lighter things will be able to move faster then a larger thing even thought they have the same momentum

Answer 6

the universe is expanding at an increasing rate, so the distance between glaxays becomes greater and greater over time.

Answer 7

if you think of the universe as a piece of elastic cloth, like spandex or something - and plannets and galaxies are marbles attached to cloth - when you stretch the cloth in all directions at once - the marbles spread out away from each other, getting further and further from each other.

thats how.

Answer 8

On a smaller scale, some are moving towards each other, some are separating.

Answer 9

It appears to us that everything is moveing away from us (with exception for Andromeda), but in reality, everything is moving away from each other. The example with the dots on an air balloon is a good one. On an expanding balloon, all dots are moving away from each other. But if you imagine yourself in place of one of the dots, to you it will look like all the other dots are moving away from you.

Answer 10

they say alot of things, but rarely can they prove it.

Answer 11

I heard it is speeding up at the edges especially, so no

Answer 12

quite simply, the universe is expanding and things are moving away from each other, but objects in space (galaxies) are also moving in their own way as they are part of larger galactic clusters and hence are affected by forces other than the ones that initiated things in the beginning.  gravity is the main culprit and that can send objects moving in all sorts of directions.

also, please bare in mind that if we assume the universe started at the big bang moment, then all matter will have been created during the inflation process and sent out in various directions - all moving away from one another. the matter then  bound together by gravity and formed the galaxies we observe today, but they still have momentum from the big bang.

your question uses our galaxy (us) as the point of reference for the observer. we are in a galaxy amongst millions of others. some are going in the same direction as us, some are not. you must use a point of reference that is independant for the observer.

Answer 13

The UNIVERSE is expanding NOT the galaxies.

Answer 14

If 2 cars are traveling at 55 mph and one is going North and the other is going South, aren't the moving away from each other?  The same applies to your question.

Answer 15

Einstein proved that time and motion are relative.  If the vacuum of space were completely empty except for you, how would you know how fast you are going?

There's a nice thought puzzle that's much harder than it seems that Newton invented.  If space were empty except for a bucket of water, if you spun the bucket would the water rush up the sides like it does on earth?

The answer is there's no such thing as spinning if there is no other gravitational force in the universe.

So there's no same speed.  But even if there were, the universe is moving away from the Big Bang point in infinate directions.  The guy with the balloon expanding answer provided a nice visual.

Answer 16

The further away something is, the faster it is moving away from us.

I have no idea, in terms of physics, why that is - but it's true.